The Miami Heat haven't had their best offensive player this season and don't have a superstar on their roster, but that hasn't mattered much so far. That's led many to believe that the Heat finally may have the right winning formula that will equate to lasting success for the franchise.
Without Tyler Herro (and Norman Powell for one game), the Heat's offense has continued to be one of the bigger storylines across the league. Sure, it's only been one week, but it's hard to minimize what the Heat (with their roster) has managed to accomplish.
The Heat are seventh in the league in offensive rating, are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league, and are 3-1. If it hadn't been for a collapse in the final six minutes of their opening-night game against the Orlando Magic, the Heat would be one of four undefeated teams in the league.
Miami has been impressive this season, and that's saying the least. Almost equally as impressive has been the fact that Miami is a top-5 defensive team in the league. Still, that's been a mainstay for the Heat in recent years. Even though it's still noteworthy, I don't believe that's all that particularly surprising. Instead, it's their new look and revamped offense that continues to be the headlining story for the Heat.
How the Heat are winning games
The one correlation in the Heat's (very) early-season success is their willingness to play hard, on both ends of the floor. Without having a clear-cut superstar player on the roster, that's been a requirement for the Heat. And that mindset, along with getting smart, good looks on the offensive end of the floor, while playing stingy defense, has led them to success.
Another underrated part of their success this season has been the team's ability to create turnovers and turn those into easy fastbreak points. Miami is top 10 in the league in points off turnovers, and they're leading the league in fastbreak points.
What does this all mean? That the Heat's success is not merely predicated on the breakout play of one individual player. And that could be a good sign when attempting to predict whether the Heat's success could be sustainable or not.
As long as the Heat continue to play by prioritizing these good habits, you'd have to imagine they're going to keep seeing good results.
The Heat's sustainability will be tested over the next few weeks, but there are a lot of positive signs that Miami will be able to build off of after these first few games. There's reason to be excited about the Heat again in Miami, especially now that it appears the team may finally have a formulaic foundation for the future.